Meal with a view

Our view from the outdoor patio of the Rio Grande Lounge along with the best chicken tamales served Christmas style.  Once our bellies were full we strolled over for s'mores and had a final look around.

Sandia Mountains

Tamales Christmas style (red and green chile)

View looking back toward the LOUD pool with the quiet one being on the other side

Shhhh!

For the first time that I recall in some time or at all, Jane Anna and I found ourselves at the Adult pool instead of taking kids to the pool to play.  That doesn't mean anything like you must be 21 or older.  It means we wanted peace and quiet and our kids or teenagers are growing up.  

Wonder why they chose this location?

View from just below the Coronado Visitor's Center and Kuaua Pueblo ruins.  The Rio Grande just below with the Sandia Mountains against the sky.

Under our noses

The Coronado Historic site was just down the road.  We have passed it many time not realizing it was there.  This village or pueblo post Spanish occupation was attacked by Coronada and his men.  Just recently proof was found with 2 or more dozen round balls fired from the flintlock commonly carried by the spaniards.  The ruins of the pueblo styled homes are visible in the first pic.  So much history.

 http://www.nmhistoricsites.org/coronado

Tierra Amarilla Anticline

Years ago the Rio Grande valley was formed by the separation of enormous tectonic plates .  On the eastern side, the plates shifted back and tilted to form the Sandia Mountains. On the western side, the earth ripped open to create the Tierra Amarilla Anticline (seen below).

Bow and arrow

This one along with the piece of pottery with fingerprints is my favorite.  When holding this ancient arrowhead it is almost black.  When holding it up to the sun, as seen in the pic, it becomes translucent.

Was this tip ever used?  Did it hit it's game or was it in the quiver waiting for it's turn?

Roll and pinch

One way the ancestral pueblo people would contruct pottery would be to roll the clay into long round strips.  The strips would be laid and wrapped in a circular motion wrapping each layer on top of the one below.  The round strips would then be pinched to flatten and mesh together.  If you look close at this piece you can see fingerprints.  Just imagine who did this?  How long ago?  How did they use the pottery?

Pots and Pans

Pieces of pottery seem to appear scattered all along the area.

Sea life

All along this one trail were evidence of sea life.  Note the clam shells embedded into the rock.

Some things are not as they appear

There are Pinions, Junipers grow across the semi-arid high desert landscape.  Notice on the surface this juniper is not very tall.  It had grown thru the edges of the rock nearly 20 feet and cause the ledge to break away.  The Junper, as you see, have very deep roots which are needed as the annual rainfall is only 8-10".

Rugged yet beautiful

Several formations and gorgeous views around every turn.  This area is also known for the it's multiple volcanoes.

Sheetrock

Formations, different rock types, artifacts abound.  The white rock as seen in the pics below are mined on the reservation on which we passed thru.  Rubbing your hand across the rock leaves a white powdery/chalky feeling.  After being mined it is shipped just down the highway a few miles and processed for making sheetrock.

33's

Clint with New Mexico Jeep tours arrived just prior to 9am Mountain Time at the resort for our four hour tour.  We departed the Tamaya Reservation on which the resort sits and drove Northwest on Hwy 550.  Turning off the highway we were then on a road passing thru the Ojita Reservation and eventually onto BLM land with public access....jeep trails, mountain bike trails, hiking trails.

2008 Jeep Rubicon with 33" tires

Optional stand and ride

High Noon

On the edge of Old Town was the highly rated, beautiful old but renovated on the inside High Noon restaurant.  Carson ordered the Enchilada favorite with blue corn tortillas in cheese and red chile.  This dish has been a staple on the vacation.  Ryder tried a burrito with mixed reviews while I tried salmon seared fish tacos and JA ordering the same as Carson.  JA and I swapped as she thought her's was too heavy a dish and mine a little light.  Great meal for 3 out of 4.

Walter White

Having watched the AMC/Netflix series "Breaking Bad" and our crew at work producing a fun 5 minute video crossing banking and illegal activity, I was curious about filming locations.  After a quick look for "Walter White's house+Breaking Bad" many results and comments appeared.  Reading briefly and checking the address revealed we were not but 10 miles away and with interstate, 10 miles is not that that far.  Punched in the address, made turn after turn, was filling boys in on comments about the homeowners.  Apparently they have owned the home for over 40 years but allowed filming for financial gain hopefully.  Comments online stated the older lady was mean and rude while the gentleman was very nice.  Also noted was they usually sit in chairs in the garage with the door(s) open.  They have constructed a metal fence due to the popularity to protect their property.  After enlightening everyone in the van, we approached the last turn.  Carson said "I'm sweating!"  The pressure was building apparently. Sure enough, we made a quick pass and there they were, sitting in chairs just inside the garage door.  A street or two over and I turned around for another pass.  As we approached, I rolled down the window, and motioned like "Is it ok to take a pic?"  The woman vigorously shook her head and waved us on.  I followed her instruction and moved on without a pic.  As everyone agreed it was a very odd encounter.  I wonder if they like the attention or not.  It would definitely pass the time of day watching idiots like me drive by for a potential photo op.  Oh well!

The pic below is similar to the scene today except both individuals were in chairs to the right of the vehicle.


Pic found from internet search

Founded in 1706

Old Town Albuquerque was streets of shops, cafes, post office and the oldest church in town of course.  Visited several shops, one street performer playing ancient music via some type of handmade woodwind filled the air.  Though the warmest day thus far a nice breeze provided relief.  With low humidity still no comparison to heat in the South.

Hot Air!

Rainbow Ryders did not disappoint.  We woke early, around 3:50am MT, showered and ate then made our way to Rainbow Ryders office.  Signed our forms and were assigned a pilot.  Four groups were going out with three of the four being vans with trailers pulling large balloons and baskets.  The fourth was an F250 pulling a trailer with a small balloon carrying 2-3.  We drove to a park type area.  Dean, our pilot and Air Force retiree with more than 3,000 hours flying balloons, had us stay in the van as he maneuvered the trailer in the lot.  The other three had let their clients out prior to with all four groups being slightly spread out.  Once the basket and balloon was unloaded, we unloaded.  A couple of us volunteered to hold the 90ft long balloon open while super powered fans filled it with cool air for about five minutes following the blasts of hot air.  Dean, our pilot, was a character with constant hot air balloon flying jokes.  He had a crew of two, Elroy and Frank who would trail the balloon while staying run contact via radio for potential landing locations.  After the balloon began to rise Dean casually said "if you see any power lines around let me know because that would be bad", just as we began to rise just slightly high enough to pass a big section of lines, he had a big grin on his face.

Prior to lift off, he aired up a balloon and sent it flying to test the winds.  Once he determined the winds were ok, he fired up his balloon.  All the others had a head start but he still had us going ahead of the others.  Another flying technique was to find the current.  After first climbing fairly high we just sat there.  No current or drift so he said if you see me spitting I'm not being gross I'm checking the winds below.  We then dropped a good bit to find a current.  The balloon drifted lower and lower down to just 20 feet over some rooftops.  Low enough that he said good morning to a gentleman in his back yard with the gentleman responding and we could easily hear.  At that point we began climbing.  Dean said we would likely be anywhere from 1200-1400 for a max altitude which would put us at 7600-7800 feet total.  With the Rio Grande in sight we passed over the largest cottonwood forest in the U.S.

The Rio Grande really stood out amongst the green leaved cottonwoods.  Another of their balloons had descended to the edge of the water just in front of us with another drifting high in the air ahead.  We descended as well to brush the basket against the running water of the river then drifting just feet above the water for a few hundred yards.

Dean fielded lots of questions from among his 11 clients in this basket including us.  Questions like, who do you register balloons with?  How do you become a pilot?  What about the airport and notifications to and from them?  along with others.  He answered each and every one.  The FAA is the association responsible for balloons just like plains.  Pilots must passed and written and flying test to become certified along with 35 hours of piloting a balloon....though Dean said he had 100 before he was comfortable flying solo with passengers.  As stated earlier he's up to 3,000 hours and appears to be the lead guy at this outfit.

I thought there would be a designated landing spot.  One person asked can you land anywhere?  He responded with anywhere you have permission or anywhere they haven't told you no.  The balloon landed on this little corner right next to the highway but it actually had stakes in the ground along the sidewalk so he hit the gas and gained some air to cross the highway at about 50 feet over into what could be called a field I suppose but it was mainly sand with some plant life.  As we began to land we saw a long-eared jack rabbit kick up dust on his way outa there.

Of the eleven clients in the basket, two were from India, one from Germany, one from Korea, one from Missouri, four from Tennessee, two from New Mexico.

Total fly time was 1 hour and 10 minutes not counting the prep, loading, landing etc.  Pretty much 5:30am - 9:30am covered the entire adventure.  

 

Blue corn enchiladas on location

Two enchiladas with shredded chicken, covered with cheeses and red chile. Arguably my best meal here at the on-site Santa Ana Cafe.

Shwanky

Gorgeous hotel in the Tamaya Pueblo outside of Albuquerque near the Rio Grande. It's really more of a resort. Activities galore.

10-3

Took a tram ride to the Sandia mountain top
overlooking the Rio Grand Valley from 10,300 feet.